Never Ending Nightmare
by Mastlix
Summary: Ichabod drifts into a dream where not everything is at it seems and something is coming for him in the waking world but what?
1. Chapter 1

**OK**** so not only is this my first Sleepy Hollow fic it's my first fic ever so go easy on me but any feedback good or bad would be welcomed. Also i have only seen up to episode 5 as being in the UK we are a little behind and its set really after that however i wrote most of this after episode 4 But love the show and wanted to scribble, enjoy!**

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Chapter 1

It was getting dark outside, it was only mid afternoon but storm clouds gathering above the solitary cabin where Ichabod sat. Rain drops began to patter against the window and for the first time everything that had happened so far began to sink in. He hadn't had a chance to reflect on how much his life had changed, he cupped his face with his hands and sighed.

There was three soft knocks on the door, he stood up from the bed and walked across the room to open it. It was Abbie with a smile on her face and some shopping bags. "Hey Crane. How are you doing today? I just thought I would stop by and see how you are" She walked passed him and put the bags on the ground next to the couch. "I am well thank you. And yourself?" He closed the door, "Yeah good, I brought you some more things. I figured you might eventually need more than one set of clothes and well some fresh undergarments" He looked to her and smiled, "Thank you, this is to generous of you. I have no means to repay you" he sat back down on the couch and stared down at the ground.

Abbie walked over and sat beside him, "Are you ok?" he slowly shook his head and turned to her. "I believe everything is beginning to dawn on me now. I am stuck in this time, there is no going back and even although I have this gargantuan task on my shoulders of stopping the horseman I feel sorrowed that I never had or will a normal life with Katrina and have children and grow old together, Is that selfish?"

She put her hand on his arm for comfort, "No, it isn't. And I will always be here if you want to talk. You aren't alone." He turned to her and smiled, "Thank you." A ringing broke the silence, it was Abbies phone, she pulled it from her jacket pocket. She stood up as she answered it and started waking around the room. Crane looked over to the bags and pulled one over to him and started to rummage through, he pulled out a pack of three black boxer shorts and held them up. Abbie hung up the phone and turned to him, "Who is Calvin Klein and why do I appear to have his undergarments?" Abbie laughed and shook her head, "You have a lot to learn" She headed towards the door, "I'm sorry but I have to go, it was Captain Irving and I need to head down to the station. Hopefully its nothing supernatural related unless demons are holding up liquor stores" Crane moved in front of her and opened the door, "Thanks, you are a gentleman, you could teach men of this time a thing or two" and with that she was gone, and he was alone again and his smile soon faded.

He walked through to the bedroom, lay on top of the bed and shut his eyes, for missing the last two hundred years he sure was tired. Very quickly he drifted off into a light sleep, he had a dream he was home.

_It was a lovely summers day, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. He was stranding at the back door of his home which looked out onto a field of long swaying grass and beyond the forest of sleepy hollow. There was Katrina, sitting on a magnificent white horse. She was dressed all in white, the long floating dress caught the wind and danced around, she looked like an angel. His heart filled with joy to see her like this, he started to move towards her, "Is this a dream Katrina or can you talk to me?" She smiled softly, "What are you talking about my dear? You are late, we were going to ride together through the forest, don't you remember?" He realised this must be a dream and not Katrina trying to communicate with him somehow._

_He walked over to her and held her hand, "I know this is just a dream, a beautiful dream but I miss you terribly and there isn't a moment that goes by that I don't think of you and what our lives would have been together" She looked down and him and smiled, "I'm sorry" she whispered and kicked the horse into motion. He started to run after her, she was heading to the woods "Kartina wait! What do you mean that you are sorry?" He shouted after her but his words got caught in the wind. He reached the edge of the wood, the atmosphere changed . there was a creeping darkness all around, the trees were dead and leafless even although he dreamed of summer, this place reeked of death. A chill ran up his back as he moved forward , dead leaves crunched beneath his feet as he progressed forward. _

_Something caught his eye to his left, a rustle of dry leaves followed. "Hello…Who goes there?" He said, noticing his voice slightly quivering. I think I want to wake up now he thought, even in slumber nightmares haunt him. He pressed forward deeper into the woods when he heard a voice on the air._

"_Ichabod" The voice seemed to sing his name. He followed the direction of the haunting sound, he stumbled down a small hill to reach a lake, he walked over to the waters edge and upon closer inspection the water was black and appeared bottomless. He reluctantly bent down and touched the substance, it clung to his fingers like tar. He rubbed his hand on his trousers and looked up to see the lake was filled with bones and animal parts that had fallen in to their demise. "I really want to wake up now" he said aloud to himself._

_He felt a warm hand slide on top of his shoulder, he spun around and there was Katrina, now wearing her long black dress. Her red flowing hair caught the sunbeams than now emerged through trees. He gently caressed her face and pulled her towards him, his lips passionately embraced hers. His hands slipped round her waist whilst her fingers ran through is long hair. He reluctantly pulled away, still eager for his wife's sweet touch._

_"I miss you terribly Katrina", he whispered, she threw her hands around his neck and held on tightly. "As do I my love"_

_BANG. The noise was earth shattering. They both frantically looked around to see the source of the noise but the wood was perfectly still._

_"You need to wake up now Ichabod,something is coming for you and I don't mean in this place."_

_BANG BANG._

_"What is coming Katrina?" He shook her shoulders in panic, "there is not time just wake up! " she turned and jumped into the lake, it engulfed her in a second she was gone, bubbles floated to the surface then went still._

_BANG BANG BANG._


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who has read and liked my fic, cant believe so many of you enjoyed it when it was my first go! So here is the second chapter, i am going to try and update at least once a week, normally at weekends as due to work i cant get much or any done during the week! And comments are most welcome :)**

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Ichabod woke up with a jolt, his body was trembling, sweat was dripping down his face and he was gasping for breath. He sat upright and listened. Silence, all he could hear was his breathing and the rapid beating of his heart in his chest. Was it all a dream? He wasn't going to take that chance by not investigating first.

He stood up slowly and scanned the small room which was dimly lit with only one small lamp next to the bed. Nothing appeared out-of-place, the room was uncluttered, only the simple wooden framed bed and an old chest of drawers stood at the far wall. The bedroom door was shut, the cabin was cold and draughty at night so he always kept it closed. He gingerly started his way across the room as he did he remembered Abbie had left him a simple hand gun, one from her own home, in case of these types of emergencies. However it was in a drawer in a cabinet in the main living area. He looked around the room for anything that could be used as a weapon. Nothing, Right I need to be brave, it might have all been a dream or in my head he thought to himself. He was braver around Abbie, he put on a strong and confident act when faced with anything but when alone he felt more venerable but would hate to admit it. He gently began to turn the old brass doorknob, it clicked and the door slowly crept open. At first he stuck his head around the door, shielding the rest of his body with it. He tried to scan the large living area but it was too dark to see, he could however tell the front door was still in tact. He reluctantly slid out of the doorway and tiptoed his way to the cabinet. A few steps in his foot landed on a squeaky floorboard, he froze to the spot like a statue and held his breath.

From the front door a tremendous bang just like the others rattled through the cabin, the full structure seemed to shake "Not a dream then" he said aloud. The noises then changed from banging to frantic scratching, it was clawing at the door, now beginning to look compromised. He ran to his left towards the small cabinet, trying not to fall flat on his face in the darkness, he frantically opened the top drawer and grabbed the gun. What now? The thought raced through his mind that he didn't know what was on the other side of that door, the horseman himself possibly. No, why would the horseman scratch at his door? He pointed the gun and started to move around the room to get better aim when whatever it was came through. Moonlight now passed through the windows, making it easier to see but not completely. With this he noticed what looked like puffs of smoke beginning to whirl around the room accompanied by the smell of charred wood.

With one last bang the door crashed inwards and hit the floor so hard splinters went flying in all directions. Moonbeams shone around the outline of the beast that stood in the doorway, all that appeared first was two red glowing eyes glaring at him. As his sight adjusted to the dark it looked to be a monstrous wolf, it stood at five feet tall, its coat was long and grey and its tail was not normal, it was long and thin and was whipping back and forth. The beast took a few large strides into the room; Ichabod was still pointing the gun at the monster, his arm visibly shaking and the other behind his back. As it moved he noticed the tail of the creature was in fact that of a serpent, its colour closely matched the body of the wolf but was scaly and smooth. The beast stopped mid way into the room, threw its head upwards and let out a pricing howl. In a flash the creature fanned out two magnificent golden feathered wings that seemed to engulf the room and blocked out any moonlight seeping in.

It took Ichabod a few seconds to drink this all in, he had never seen anything like it before and had no idea what it was but he was sure it wasn't going to be friendly. It let out a guttural growl, lowered its head and bore its gargantuan fangs then leapt towards him. He fired the gun twice as the creature was in the air, one missed and the other caught the monsters shoulder. The beast crashed into him and sent him flying backwards into the wall; he was covered in blood splats that had shoot through the air when he hit it. Ichabod was stunned from getting thrown against the wall, he could still hear the creature scrambling about and yelping with pain. He pulled him self up with some shelves that were next to him and fired another shoot at the beast, this time the bullet impacted the body. It let out an ear shattering howl of pain, spun around and headed for the door. Before Ichabod could lift his arm for another shoot it was gone into the darkness of night and all fell silent again.

He stumbled a few steps back until he felt the wall behind him and slid down to the ground. The gun thumped as he dropped it on the floor next to him. Well that was unpleasant, he thought. In his dreams he is not safe and when he is awake worse off, all he wanted was just one day to rest and think but everyday was a waking nightmare full of supernatural creatures. The only thing that had kept him sane so far had been Abbie, and with that thought he smiled and closed his eyes and slept, dreamless, right there on the blood soaked floor.

Morning broke over Sleepy Hollow, there was a chill in the air and a light fog coated the town. Abbie had woken up early and decided to go round to check Ichabod before heading to work and bring him some breakfast. She thought of him alone up there and hated it, she also felt stronger around him, that she took take on anything by his side. She stopped off and got them some muffins, juice and coffee and sat the take away bag on the passenger seat of her car and started to make the short journey.

As she drove up the drive way to Corbin's old cabin she could see that there was a hole where the front door should have been, she stopped the car and flew out the door and pulled her out her gun and started to walk the rest. She looked at the ground and could see a blood trail that started from the cabin and veered off to the left and tapered out into the woods. She felt a surge of panic wash over her, was Crane dead? She felt her heart in her throat and felt sick to her stomach, this was all her fault, and she shouldn't have left him alone up her in the middle of nowhere.

She got to the door and seen it had been ripped off at the hinges and there was some strange scorch marks around the frame. Abbie cautiously stepped into the cabin and scanned the room, the table and chairs were flipped over, the couch was tipped on its side and anything that wasn't nailed down was broken and on the floor which was drenched in blood. She took a few steps forward and saw Ichabod hunched against the back wall, her gun at his side.

She ran over "Ichabod!" she screamed she thought at first the blood was his and the worst ran through her head. She threw herself on the floor next to him; she grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him, "Ichabod wake up! Please you have to be ok" Tears were starting to cascade down her face; this is my fault she thought. He slowly opened his eyes and it took him a second to realise what was happening. "Are you ok? Where are you bleeding from?" She wiped away her tears quickly and hardened her face; she didn't want him to see her upset. He sat upright and rubbed his eyes, still slightly dazed. "I'm quite alright. None of this is my blood, at least I hope not" She hit is arm, "Ouch what was that for? I may not be dying but I am feeling rather sensitive" She stood up, still trembling "Don't scare me like that again, I thought you were dead" she offered a hand so he could stand up "I apologise but I cannot guarantee that it will not happen again, demons have become quite found of me of late." he grasped her hand and as he stood stumbled slightly into her arms. She looked up into his beautiful blue eyes "Well so have I".


	3. Chapter 3

**OK**** so my last chapter was a little to heavy on the action so this chapter is more character interaction, i think that's what most people want so noted! Thanks again to everyone who has liked and followed and even just read and i hope you enjoy and as always comments are welcome! Also it might be two weeks until the next as i'm pretty busy but i will try for one week if i can :)**

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Abbie let go of Ichabod, took a step back and smiled. She turned to look again at the destruction of the room, "So are you going to fill me in what happened here and why you didn't call me immediately?" she stood with her hand on her hip, "That smart phone device you gave me was broken. I tried to communicate with you by this means yesterday and the screen was dark. So I disposed of it" He walked across the room, dodging the debris on the floor while on his tip toes. He got to the door frame and crouched down and began to inspect the charred wood. Abbie sighed and shook her head "Did you charge the phone?" He looked round at her and frowned, "Never mind, we have more serious things to be dealing with, as always" she walked over to the door and bent down beside him, "Is this wood burnt? What the hell was here last night?"

He stood up and grabbed his jacket that was hanging by the door; he slipped it on and brushed it down. "That's what we are going to find out Miss Mills" He held out his hand to help her up "Are you sure you are ok? You don't need to go to hospital to get checked out?" He smiled "Just a few bruises, nothing to be concerning yourself over" He gestured to the doorway, "Shall we?"

They made their way to the car, Ichabod got to the driver's side and opened the door for her before walking round to the passenger side. Abbie started the car and turned in the driveway, she glanced in the mirror back at the cabin, "We need to get that door fixed, when we stop ill call a few people but it's not safe for you to stay there alone" He turned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow "I thought I handled myself quite well last night without you" he said with a smirk. "Well you might not be as lucky next time so after we do some research into what tried to kill you last night ill swing past my place to get some things and I'm coming over."

He looked out the window to the forest and wondered if that thing was still out there waiting for him. "I would very much appreciate the company Miss Mills and you are correct, safety in numbers" He rolled down his window slightly to let a gentle breeze flow in, it blew his already messed up hair all around. She looked over to him "Yeah we can have a girly night in, paint our nails, put face masks on, eat raw cookie dough and watch some chick flicks while waiting for demons to show up, will be fun" She laughed as she seen the confused look on his face, "I don't know what a lot of that means but it sounds insufferable, especially whatever a chick flick is" he smiled and glanced back out the window, "I'm just kidding although you are two hundred years old, a face mask wouldn't hurt". They were in the main town now and almost at their new-found base of operations, the archives of everything weird she liked to think of it.

They walked into the dusty old room filled with old books and files; Abbie took off her jacket and threw it over a chair next to the large desk. "Ok so fill me in on what happened so we can try to figure out what's after you" Ichabod began pacing up and down the room with his hands behind his back as he explained last nights events to her, leaving out the part of his dream and how scared he actually was, he needed to stay strong and calm, he didn't want to her to see him too venerable. After finishing his tale she pulled out the seat of the desk and sat down.

"So we have a monster that looks like a wolf, with a snake's tail, wings and may breathe fire?"

"Yes, correct" He said in a nonchalant manner. He began to pull some books off the shelves and blew on them to clear some dust. Abbie opened her laptop and began searching, she thought this thing sounded terrible and Crane didn't seem that phased at all but she knew he must feel frightened sometimes like she does, who wouldn't?

Some time had passed when Ichabod broke the silence "Aha" he exclaimed as he stood holding open a large leather bound book. "I think this is what we are dealing with" He walked over to the desk and placed the book in front of her and pointed to the page which had a simple black and white drawing of what he described. "That is Marchosias. A ruler of hell that can be summoned by a witch and when summoned will be very faithful to its new master. In the Ars Goetia, the first book of The Lesser Key of Solomon, he is depicted as a wolf with gryphon's wings and a serpent's tail, spewing fire from his mouth, but at the request of the magician he may take the form of a man."

Abbie rubbed her forehead, "so what you are saying is someone, a witch, summoned this thing and it could be anywhere because it can change into a human? And the witch controlling it is probably human too? Well that's just great." Ichabod shut the book and looked to her, "No it is not, now we need to find out who is controlling it, if we stop the witch it will be far simpler than taking on that monstrosity" Abbie nodded in agreement "What I could do is look online for all the local witchcraft stores, if there are any, swing by and ask if anyone was buying items to summon a Marchosias. There was a list as the side of the page I saw so hopefully that can lead us to our witch but first I need coffee" She stood up and pulled some money from her jeans pocket. "Why don't I go to get the beverages and you stay and look on the netting, web contraption for these outlets" She smiled and threw him over some money, "OK if you are going to be alright on your own, every time I'm not by your side you seem to always end up in trouble" He walked to the door, turned to face her and bowed his head and he was gone.

Before he went across the street for coffee he decided to take a detour, as it was during the day and out in public he hoped he would be safe enough. He didn't know a lot of town yet but he knew how to get to one place, Katrina's false grave. He knew it was foolish as she wasn't buried here but it gave him comfort and somewhere to clear his head. He sat on his knees in the damp grass and began to talk out loud, "Katrina, my love I don't know if you can hear me but I just wanted to see you again." He glanced around to see if she would appear to him but he sat alone. "We are tracking a witch you see, it would be very helpful to get some insight and some help with the horseman in general, just anything" He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment "But more than anything I wish you were alive and here with me now" He felt a warm breath on his neck, he opened his eyes and the graveyard was coated in a light fog. Soft kisses were planted on the curve of his neck by Katrina, her hand glided round his chest inside his jacket and he felt a shiver run up his spine, "Soon my dear, soon we will be together forever"


End file.
